


never thought that I'd catch this lovebug again

by thotsandfeelings



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Post-Series, like extremely pointless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:41:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28019433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thotsandfeelings/pseuds/thotsandfeelings
Summary: “Well, you’re sick, honey. Body aches are expected.”
Relationships: Josh Lyman/Donna Moss
Comments: 17
Kudos: 81





	never thought that I'd catch this lovebug again

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly. So pointless.

“Josh?” Donna calls as she enters their warm apartment. She shivers and shuts the door hastily, sending a quick thought of pity to the poor agent posted outside their door. She hears a muffled groan from the mountain of blankets on the couch and she grins to herself. “How ya feelin’?”

Josh coughs pathetically and her heart goes out to him. The flu has made its way into the White House and he got knocked out yesterday - sneezing and coughing all over his office so much that the President wouldn’t even let him in the small entryway between his office and the Oval. Josh was ordered to go home and he’s been on the couch ever since. 

“The end is near, Donna,” he moans and she laughs quietly as she dumps her pharmacy bag on the coffee table. 

“Take these,” she orders, popping 2 cold and sinus pills into his clammy hand. “Dr. Feelgood’s orders.”

Josh dry swallows the pills and tucks the blanket back under his chin, looking like a little kid, and Donna can’t help but be endeared by him. She rummages around the bag and puts a Sprite on the table for him along with another box of Kleenex and some ibuprofen for later. She sits in the space in front of his chest and feels his forehead. 

“You don’t feel warm anymore,” she notes and pushes his hair off his face, grinning when he leans into her. “Have you showered?” He shakes his head against her hand, his eyes closed. “Do you want to?” He nods and she chuckles. “Can you speak?”

“Hurts.”

“What hurts?” she asks, caressing his cheek softly. 

He sniffles. “Everywhere.”

“Well, you’re sick, honey. Body aches are expected.”

Josh tugs on her wrist, trying to draw her down. “C’mere.”

“I thought you wanted a shower? I bought those vapor pods you like. It’ll steam your sinuses wide open.”

“In a minute,” he mumbles, still tugging on her wrist and lifting open his blanket. “Just lay down with me.”

“I’ll get sick.”

“Donna,” he whines. “I want to snuggle one more time before I die.”

She can’t help the smile that crosses her face as she finally relents and lays down next to him. He throws the blanket over her and twines their legs together as he hugs her tight, nuzzling into her. 

“How’s this?” she murmurs, running her hand up to scratch through his hair. 

“Good,” he mumbles, breathing heavy as he holds her. 

Donna keeps running her fingers through his hair soothingly and turns her face to kiss his cheek. “You’re lucky I love you so much,” she whispers. “And I expect the same regal treatment when I’m sick next week.”

A dimple peeks out at her as Josh squeezes her middle and settles more into the couch, practically pulling her on top of him. “I’ll be long gone by then.”

“You’re so dramatic.”

Josh’s breathing evens out as she continues to caress his face and soon he’s snoring softly in her ear. She lays with him for a few minutes, too comfortable to move quite yet as she listens to his heart beat steadily beneath her. Even though he’s always a big baby when he’s sick and she worries about him, she’s grateful he’s actually listening to her and the doctor and resting. 

It’s been a rough few months and Donna’s tried to slow him down as best she could, but he’s persistent and stubborn and she should have known it would take his immune system literally shutting down for him to take an actual break. 

She moves her face back into his skin, breathing with him and rubbing his cheek with her thumb softly, liking the feel of the rough two day stubble. After a while, she feels his hold on her go slack, so she carefully peels away from him, grinning when he pouts in his sleep. She grabs the bag she dropped earlier and heads to the bathroom and starts the shower, plopping a couple vapor pods in the bottom as the steam starts to fill up the room. She makes her way back to the couch and sits back down in the spot in front of Josh’s chest. 

“Joshua,” she murmurs, shaking his shoulder. He frowns, but doesn’t wake up. “Josh, wake up.” He grumbles and swats at her hand, still refusing to open his eyes. 

“Still sleeping.”

“Come on,” she urges. “Shower and then bed.”

“Are you showering, too?”

“No,” she chuckles. “I’m starving. I’m going to heat up some food and catch up on work.”

“But I like showering with you,” he says, finally opening his eyes. 

“I know you do, but you’re flying solo tonight, dearest love of mine. Come on. Up and at ‘em.”

She pulls him up to a sitting position and he groans loudly, his eyes closing again. She’s patient as he slowly gets up and she leads him to the bathroom, dodging his roaming hands trying to sneakily take her shirt off. 

“I put your robe behind the door,” she tells him, tucking his dirty clothes under her arm and throwing them in the basket in the hall. “I’ll rub you down with Vick’s when you’re done.”

Josh smirks as he draws back the shower curtain and he turns to look at her, his nose bright red and his eyes droopy. “Yeah you will,” he says, going for seductive, but coming out congested instead, and she bites her lip to stop from laughing at him before closing the door behind her. 

* * *

After a half hour, some emails, and a plateful of kung pao chicken later, she hears the bathroom door open and Josh shuffle into the bedroom. She waits a little bit, unsure if he plans on sleeping in bed or if he’ll come out to the couch again, but after another ten minutes, she gets up to find him. She shakes her head when she sees he didn’t make it very far, sprawled across the bed, still in his robe. She swipes the Vick’s from the dresser and tugs playfully on the tie holding the robe together. 

“Are you sleeping in here tonight?”

One of his eyes peels open. “Am I allowed?”

“Of course you’re allowed.” She sits down next to him. “I missed you last night.”

He smiles sleepily. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She unscrews the lid and dollops some onto her fingers before working it onto his chest. He hums appreciatively and closes his eyes again. 

“Thanks for taking care of me.”

“I’ve had _loads_ of practice.” 

She finishes and looks down at him. He’s looking at her with a sweet smile on his face and she wants to kiss him, so she settles for a swift peck on his cheek. 

“I love you,” she murmurs and gives him another kiss. “Even when you’re a big whiny and sick baby.”

“You’re supposed to be nice to me,” he pouts as he awkwardly slides under the covers.

“Josh,” she protests, trying to grab the comforter from him. “You need to change. You’ll get too hot if you sleep in that big fluffy robe.”

“I’m comfy,” he whines. 

“Fine,” she says, standing up, “but I don’t wanna hear it when you start sweating.”

“I’m a grown man, Donnatella.” He sniffs. “Don’t you have work or something?”

She rolls her eyes. “I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

“‘Kay.”

“Do you need anything?” 

“Did I see a Sprite earlier?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll take that.”

“Did you eat anything today?”

“Sam brought me soup.”

“Are you hungry now?”

“I wouldn’t say no to some Pringles.”

She smirks. “Anything else, Your Majesty?”

He opens his eyes and looks up at her, a small grin painting his face. “No. Unless I can convince you to work in here instead of the kitchen,” he says, eyebrow raising questioningly.

“I’ll only be a little while,” she promises and leaves the room to gather his requests before getting to work.

* * *

She gets a total of ten minutes of work done before she hears him call her name, and she would be annoyed, only it sounds like he calls for “Dobba”, so she can’t help but laugh. 

“You know, I thought we were past the bellowing stage in our relationship,” she teases as she swings into their bedroom. 

“I’m hot.”

She rolls her eyes. “What did I tell you?” He pouts and kicks off the blanket. “I told you I didn’t wanna hear it when you got hot.”

“Donna,” he whines, looking up at her pathetically. “Please?”

She huffs, but goes into the closet to grab him some boxers and a t-shirt anyway. She tosses them on the bed, but he doesn’t move, just continues staring at her. 

“What?”

“Those meds make my arms heavy.”

“You’re pathetic, you know that?” she says, going for stern, but she just ends up amused. “How did you make it without me for so long?”

She moves to grab his hands and haul him to his feet, steadying him when he sways drowsily. “I honestly couldn’t tell you,” he says, taking the clothes from her hands and stripping off the robe. Donna makes sure he doesn’t fall over and pushes him lightly back onto the bed when he’s re-dressed. 

“Do you need anything else?” she asks. “Because I’m getting on a conference call and it’s gonna last awhile.” Josh shakes his head and she tucks the comforter around him, trailing her fingers down his cheek. “‘Kay. Go to sleep, Josh. You need to rest.”

He smiles up at her serenely, the heavy sinus pills fully on top of him now, and he holds her hand against his face. “Just come work in here,” he mumbles. “I won’t bother you.” 

“Josh—“

“Please?”

“You can barely keep your eyes open. You won’t even know I’m gone.” His pout grows comically large and she laughs softly at him. “Don’t give me that look.” She takes her hand back and swipes it through his hair before standing again, ignoring his groan of protest. She leans over and gives his forehead a sweet kiss, whispering, “I’ll be back before you know it,” and walking out of the room. 

* * *

Donna exhales heavily and closes her eyes, her palms digging into them until she sees stars. The First Lady is going on her first big international trip and she’s been on the phone with Brazil for the last hour trying to get everything situated. The protocol for Helen Santos is much different than it was for Abbey Bartlet, so the transition has been a pain in the ass. Add that with Donna’s lack of translator and general tiredness and it makes one helluva headache. 

She closes her laptop and stretches, groaning a little as she rolls her neck around. She goes for the ibuprofen she had left on the table for Josh, popping a few pills and downing them swiftly before she snags the tissue box as well and gets ready for bed. 

After she washes her face, she tiptoes to the closet, not wanting to wake Josh, and grabs one of his shirts, forgoing any shorts, and crawls into bed beside him. She’s barely under the covers before he rolls over. 

“Hi,” she whispers. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.” Josh wiggles until he’s basically on top of her, his nose tucked into her neck and his leg laying between hers. She smiles and rubs his back, holding him tightly and kissing the top of his head. “Is your head still all stuffy?”

Josh nods. “I’m feeling better now, though. You’re good medicine.”

Donna moves one of her hands to massage along his nose and between his eyebrows, hoping to relieve some tension for him. 

“Are you staying home again tomorrow?”

He sighs deeply. “No. We have the thing next week. I can’t miss another day.”

“Take it easy,” she warns, moving to rub her thumbs against his temples. “You’ve been full steam ahead for months now. It’s no wonder your body quit on you.”

“My body quit on me because Miranda Santos sneezed on my desk,” he argues. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not.”

“Donna—“

“I’m not trying to fight with you,” she murmurs. “It's my second nature to worry about you, Josh, and with the South America trip coming up...”

Josh nuzzles into her neck and kisses her there softly. “It’s only five days, babe. I can survive without you for that long.”

“Can you?” 

“Probably.”

“Joshua—“

“I’m kidding,” he emphasizes and kisses her again. “I’ll be fine. I lived alone for almost two decades, I think I can last a few days.”

“Won’t you miss me?” 

He smirks and tightens his hold around her. “Donna, I was just begging you to work in here instead of the kitchen because it was too far away. What do you think?”

She giggles and shifts so she’s more comfortable underneath him. “I think we might be a little codependent.”

“I’m okay with that.”

“Of course you are,” she replies, skating her nails up and down his back. “You’ve been codependent since 1997.”

“You’re very nurturing,” he murmurs, his voice quiet the closer he gets to sleep. “I couldn’t help it. It’s easy to need you.”

“It’s all part of my charm.”

“Among other things.”

Donna smiles and rests her cheek against the top of his head. “Go to sleep, Josh.”

“Did you set the alarm?”

“Yes.”

“For when?”

“The President won’t be in the Oval until 10 tomorrow. You can sleep in.” 

He hums in acknowledgment and brings his hand up into her soft hair. “I’d kiss you goodnight, but I don’t wanna give you my germs.”

She lightly grabs his hair and tips his head back, her heart warming when she sees his sweet, sleepy smile. She brings her free hand up to brush across his cheek before nudging him closer. 

“I think I’ll risk it,” she whispers and lightly presses her lips to his. “The snotty look is really workin’ for me.”

His grin widens as he gives her one more kiss before burrowing back into her neck. “Love you.”

“I love you more.”

“Not possible,” he breathes and within seconds, he’s out. 

* * *

(And next week, when Donna’s taken out on Friday, Josh takes her home himself, and lets her whine and cough all over him while they eat soup and watch her favorite, most sappy chick flicks all weekend long.)

**Author's Note:**

> Phew. Did November hit everyone else extra hard or was that just me? I started a new job early that month and haven't had much time to write fully fleshed-out fics, so I apologize for disappearing! I have about 12 half-finished thoughts in my notes app, so hopefully once I get back in the rhythm, I can carve out more time to finish writing them all. :)


End file.
